Sights in Ephesus (Efes)
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Church of the Virgin Mary
The Ephesus car park is ringed with çay bahçesis (tea houses), restaurants and souvenir shops, and to the right of the road are the ruins of the Church of the Virgin Mary, also called the Double Church. The original building was a museum, a Hall of the Muses - a place for lectures, teaching and debates. Destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt as a church in the 4th century. Later it served as the site of the third Ecumenical Council (AD 431) which condemned the Nestorian heresy.
Over the centuries several other churches were built here, somewhat obscuring the original layout.
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Ephesus Ancient City
The best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean is Ephesus. Note that there are two entry points to the ancient site, roughly 3km apart. You may prefer to be dropped off at the upper entrance (the southern gate or güney kapısı) so that you can walk back downhill through the ruins and out through the lower main entrance.
To avoid the heat of the day, come early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when it's less crowded with tour groups. If you can, avoid public holidays altogether. Note that the terrace houses cost extra (and take about an hour) to visit. If your interest in ruins is slight, half a day may suffice, but real ruins buffs will want to…
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Library of Celsus
The early 2nd-century AD governor of Asia Minor, Celsus Polemaeanus, was commemorated in this magnificent library. As a Greek and Latin inscription on the front staircase attests, Celsus' son, Consul Tiberius Julius Aquila, built it in 114 to honour his deceased father, who was buried under the library's western side.
Capable of holding 12,000 scrolls in its wall niches, the Celsus was the third-largest ancient library (after Alexandria and Pergamum). The valuable texts were protected from temperature and humidity extremes by a 1m gap between the inner and outer walls. Originally built as part of a complex, the library looks bigger than it actually is: the convex facade…
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Sacred Way
From the Great Theatre, walk south along the marble-paved Sacred Way, also known as the Marble Way, noting the remains of the elaborate water and sewerage systems beneath the paving stones, and the ruts made by wheeled vehicles (which were not allowed to drive down Harbour St). The large open space on the right was the 110-sq-m agora (marketplace) dating back to 3BC and once the heart of Ephesus' business life. It would have been surrounded by a colonnade and shops selling food and craft items.
Note the fine carvings of gladiators that survive along the Sacred Way.
On the left as you approach the end of the street is an elaborate building, which used to be called a…
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Great Theatre
At the eastern end of Harbour St is the Great Theatre, reconstructed by the Romans between AD 41 and AD 117. The first theatre on the site dated from the Hellenistic city of Lysimachus, and many features of the original building were incorporated into the Roman structure, including the ingenious design of the cavea (seating area), capable of holding 25,000 people.
Each successive range of seating up from the stage is pitched more steeply than the one below, thereby improving the view and acoustics for spectators in the upper seats. Among other modifications, the Romans enlarged the stage, pitched it towards the audience and built a three-storey decorative stage wall…
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Upper Ephesus
First you'll encounter the Varius Baths – as in other ancient cities, situated at the main entrances so that visitors could wash before entering. Greco-Roman baths also had a social function as a meeting and massage destination.
Next comes the Upper Agora, a large square used for legislation and local political talk. The structure was originally flanked by grand columns and filled with polished marble. In the middle was a small Temple of Isis – a testament to the strong cultural and trade connections between Ephesus and Alexandria in Egypt. The agora's columns would later be reused for a Christian basilica, which was a typically Byzantine three-nave structure with a…
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Harbour Street
Formally the Arcadian Way, Harbour St was built by Byzantine Emperor Arcadius (r AD 395–408) in a late attempt to revive the fading city. At the time, it was Ephesus' most lavish thoroughfare, illuminated at night by 50 streetlights on its colonnades, while water and sewerage channels ran beneath its marble flagstones. It greeted visitors after they patronised the Harbour Baths. Look for the high column at the arcade's end to see how far inward the sea reached in those days.
After exiting the Lower Gate, the ruined Gymnasium of Vedius (2nd-century AD) had exercise fields, baths, toilets, covered exercise rooms, a swimming pool and a ceremonial hall. Further along is the…
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Terraced Houses
Across from the Temple of Hadrian, the Terraced Houses cost an additional TL15, but they're worth it. The whole residential area was used originally as a graveyard – the Romans built the actual terraces for their homes over this and other Hellenistic structures. The roofed complex here contains (at present) seven well-preserved Roman homes. As you ascend the snaking stairs throughout the enclosure, detailed signs explain each structure's evolving use during different periods. In dwelling 2, keep an eye out for wall graffiti: these hand-scrawled images include everything from pictures of gladiators and animals to names and love poems. Dwelling 6 once contained a huge…
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Temple of Hadrian
You can't miss the impressive Corinthian-style Temple of Hadrian, on the left as you head up Curetes Way, with beautiful friezes in the porch and a head of Medusa to keep out evil spirits. It was dedicated to Hadrian, Artemis and the people of Ephesus in AD 118 but greatly reconstructed in the 5th century. Across the street a row of shops from the same period are fronted by an elaborate 5th-century mosaic.
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Stadium
A bit further along from the Gymnasium of Vedius is the Stadium, dating from the 2nd century AD. The Byzantines removed most of its finely cut stones to build the castle on Ayasuluk Hill. This 'quarrying' of pre-cut building stone from older, often earthquake-ruined structures was a constant feature of Ephesian history.
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Gate of Hercules
Curetes Way ends at the two-storey Gate of Hercules, constructed in the 4th century AD, with reliefs of Hercules on both main pillars. To the right a side street leads to a colossal temple dedicated to the Emperor Domitian (r AD 81-96), part of which serves as a rarely accessible Museum of Inscriptions.
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Gymnasium of Vedius
As you walk along the side road from Dr Sabri Yayla Bulvarı, the first ruin you will pass on your left was once the Gymnasium of Vedius, from the 2nd century AD, with exercise fields, baths, toilets, covered exercise rooms, a swimming pool and a ceremonial hall.
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Gate of Augustus
As you leave the Library of Celsus, the Gate of Augustus on the left leads into the agora (marketplace). This monumental gateway was apparently a favourite place for Roman ne'er-do-wells to relieve themselves, as a bit of ancient graffiti curses 'those who piss here'.
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Roman Toilets
As you head up Curetes Way, a passage on the left leads to the famously communal Roman men's toilets. The much-copied statuette of Priapus with the penis of most men's dreams was found in the nearby well. It's now in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk.
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Trajan Fountain
Further up Curetes Way on the left is the Fountain of Trajan. Of the huge statue of the emperor (AD 98-117) that used to tower above the pool, only one foot now remains.
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Varius Baths
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Upper Agora
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Temple of Isis
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Temple of Hestia Boulaea
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Temple of Domitian
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Prytaneum
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Pollio Fountain
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Odeon
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Men's Latrines
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Memius Monument
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